Gaming machine manufacturers strive to make wagering gaming machines that provide as much enjoyment, entertainment, and excitement as possible for players. Providing interesting and exciting primary wagering games and secondary games in which a player has an opportunity to win potentially large awards is one way to enhance player enjoyment and excitement. Various known wagering gaming machines use devices such as reels or wheels to enhance the attraction of the wagering gaming machines to players and to enhance the overall gaming experience of players.
Wagering gaming machines are typically set to pay back, on average, a certain percentage of the amount of money wagered by players. The average percentage of money wagered that is paid back to the player as an award is sometimes called the average expected payback or average expected payback percentage. The average expected payback percentage provided by a wagering gaming machine is in part determined by the paytable employed by the wagering gaming machine and in part determined by the likelihood that each designated winning symbol combination included in the paytable will occur in each play of the wagering game. A paytable typically determines the awards that a player wins if the designated winning symbols or designated winning symbol combinations occur during play of the wagering game. For example, in a slot game, a paytable determines the award that will be provided to a player if certain winning symbols or winning symbol combinations appear on an activated payline. If the wagering gaming machine has one or more secondary games, the average expected payback percentage provided by the wagering gaming machine is typically also determined by the likelihood of each of the secondary games occurring for each play of the wagering game and based on the average expected award resulting from play of the each of the secondary games.
At any one point in time, a typical wagering gaming machine is set to have a static or predetermined average expected payback percentage. That is, for each play of the wagering game at a designated wager level or amount, the average expected payback percentage is the same. This average expected payback percentage is either set by the gaming machine manufacturer based on the request of a casino or set by the casino itself. Certain gaming machine manufacturers provide sets of different games of the same type that have different average expected payback percentages. This enables the casino, at different times, to set the desired average expected payback percentage for the wagering gaming machine.
Certain players believe that wagering gaming machines become “hot” at various times. However, typical wagering gaming machines (such as Class III wagering gaming machines) do not vary the average expected payback percentage for each play of the wagering game.
Gaming machine manufacturers constantly strive to make new gaming machines that provide as much enjoyment and excitement as possible, and to increase player excitement and enjoyment.